Char

Well now she only has the first two lines so far. I will wait until that is "fixed" in her mind before I start on the rest of it so that she won't mix it up. I did not do a recording. I just say it occasionally to her. Whisper has never responded well to recordings. she picks things up that I say to her.

I agree with all that has been said above. I will add one little thing..Your husband needs to learn to read her body language and respect her. When she indicated she did not want him to pet her and he did anyway he lost some ground with her. Trust can be lost or gained in all the little things. It may have been something he did previously that he is not even aware of and she may need time to learn to trust him again. I think it is the little things that add up for a bird and he can gain her trust back by doing the little things. Oh and be sure to tell your husband that cage cleaning is really high on a birds list as ways to show you care. Seriously.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/06/03 04:18

Congrats on your smart little boy,

The Pionus is beautiful! That is a really nice photo.

judygram wrote:

Judy..I think you are right about the competing. Whisper will be on her stand talking up a storm and the Cockatoo will be on her stand jabbering away but I can't understand a word the cockatoo says. It sounds like 2 people having a conversation in 2 different languages. It is hilarious! Also whenever the Cockatoo gets loud I do not respond. I just walk out of the room. I don't want to reinforce the behavior. But Whisper is over there saying "Stop it!, stop it!" So I guess I have to take Whisper out of the room with me since she won't ignore it.:lol: I will definitely get it on video when I get it back.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/06/03 03:27

I saw a Cag on You Tube singing the the theme song to the "COPS' t.v. show and decided to teach it to Whisper. She got the "Bad bird, bad bird" portion of the song right away. This week I decided to teach her the second line which is "whatcha gonna do?" Tonight she sang both lines together. "Bad bird, bad bird, whatcha gonna do?" It was so cute! I would get it on video but my recorder is out on loan right now. In a few weeks I will start adding on the rest of the song. It has been a big week for vocabulary. She has said 5 new things this week. She was averaging 1 new phrase a week but she has been really yakkity yak this week. I thing it has something to do with the Cockatoo I rescued. It has taken me forever to type this message because she is trying to destroy the keyboard.

That is cute. When you have her perched on your hand...hold her feet with your thumb to keep her in position. It's called "pinning the toes".

Sometimes they just don't want to be bothered. I try to respect Whisper's feeling when she indicates she does not want me to pick her up and just walk away. I come back late and try again and she steps right up. When they are molting their feathers can prick them when we pet or handle them so you have to be careful.

Whisper has never been real cuddly. She sits on my shoulder and demands her scritches and gives me kisses but that is about it. Oh tonight she did the sweetest thing. I had a bad headache most of the afternoon. I went to the kitchen with her on my shoulder to get some aspirin. I was standing there looking at the contents of the cabinet and feeling kind of sad and worried because I have been having them a lot lately. I said "Whisper, Mommie has a bad headache". She just reached around and and gave me a big kiss. Just like that. Nothing else. I felt better immediately. Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/06/02 03:03<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/06/02 03:03

Whenever Whisper sees me eating something she cocks her head to the side and says "Is that good? Hmmm? She also makes these smacking noises like she is eating. I did not realize I was such a noisy eater but apparently I am or she wouldn't do that.:laugh:

That is great. I wish Whisper would do that.I can't even get her to accept a boing. She thinks it is a snake.

His next sound will be a fart.:laugh:

You guys do know that you should not share drinks or food, spoons ect with your birds because you have bacteria in your mouth that can make your bird very sick. I will let whisper lick the condensation off my glass too but I won't let her eat or drink after me.

Oh gosh I am sorry I didn't know about the other event and did not pay attention to the age of the thread. I guess I was the only one celebrating. Sorry.

Wow what a scare. Glad to hear everyone is okay.

I just read in the other thread he has been found. I am so happy this ended well.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/05/31 18:20

That is terrific. I know what you mean about them directing you. Whisper will let me know if I am not doing it right or if I am hitting some pin feathers.

What a sweet picture.

You see I feel totally different about the vet bill. If the potential new owner were not going to take the bird to the vet and get it checked out then they are not the type of person I would pass the bird on to anyway. The rescue people I spoke of are from the vets office and I am hoping that something comes through. As I said the vet bill was $253. I think that is a pretty good deal. They sell in the pet stores her for around $1500 to $1800 Like I said if I do not find the RIGHT home for her I will keep her. I feel I have a responsibility to her now. I would havae to forget about the Zon as 3 would be too much for me.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/05/30 22:48

Absolutely adorable! Especially Echo. I loved all those baby sounds.

A week ago I rescued an Umbrella Cockatoo. A friend told me about her situation and I felt I had to intervene.When I arrived the man was drunk and threatening to set her loose in the wild. He was supposedly leaving for Spain in a few days. I rescued her with the intention to find her a good home. I am not a Cockatoo person and don't really want to keep her. My Grey is tiny and she is just so BIG. I am waiting for a local breeder to produce a female Amazon for me. I am not going to let her go unless I find a GOOD home for her but would like to find someone before she settles in here. I took her to the vet and she had a gram negative bacteria in her stool which I suspected from looking at her poop. Her cage was filthy! She is on antibiotics and should get over this just fine. She is sweet and loves to be petted. I was told she was on Harrison's and she is eating that okay for me but not with enthusiasm. She has bitten me once and that was when she managed to get on my shoulder and I tried to get her off. Her previous owners said she was a screamer. I can't blame her she was kept locked up most of the time. Not even a playstand and the 2 toys in her cage looked older than her. She is 2 yrs old DNA female. She came from the same pet store I got Whisper from and their birds are all vet checked by the best avian vet in the state. PBFD and chlamydia tested and polyoma vaccinated. They assured me she has never been exposed to another bird. Since I have her here on a huge playstand with lots of toys I have not had any screaming PROBLEMS. She does let out a loud squawk occasionally and at around 8:30 PM she starts up but that is birdie bedtime here and she stops as soon as I put her in her cage and cover her. She is absolutely gorgeous and is not a plucker. I have contacted the local rescue people around here and so far nobody has called wanting her. One of the main people who do this sort of thing here is in the process of moving out of state and could not help me. I don't really want to go the route of running an ad because I want to be sure I am getting a good home and not a reseller. I am only asking the person who takes her to reimburse the vet fees which I think any reasonable person would expect. Her visit the other day was $253 and she need to return in 2 weeks to have a recheck gram stain. I bought the cage she was in and Oh what a scrubbing that took! I have disinfected it twice. I paid them $100 for it but it is really not big enough for her. I would rather the new owner got her a bigger cage and I can keep this one for the amazon I am getting. Does anyone out there know of anyone in my area who would want her. If I don't find anyone GOOD for her I will keep her but it means I will have to forget about the Amazon I have been patiently waiting for. I am located in Nicholasville Kentucky USA. 10 miles for Lexington. Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/05/30 16:10<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/05/30 16:13

Do those have sugar in them? I would think they would be sweet.

Yeah I get all excited when I get Whisper new toys too only to see her run away when she sees them, convinced they are some kind of bird killer. It takes weeks for her to accept something new. I have not been able to change out the perches in her cage for better ones because when I do she won't go in there.:blink:

Whisper is a CAG. 18 months old. She is petite and weighs 385. The vet felt of of her breastbone and said it feels perfect. I found there can be a large difference between scales also. The one at the pet store weighed a lot heavier than the vets.